Kazakhstan, a CSTO member, has put up more than a hundred Soviet-made fighter jets and bombers, which are no longer in service, along with their aviation engines for sale. Kazakhstan is gradually replacing an outdated fleet of Soviet-era combat aircraft with modern European jets like the Dassault Rafale and Saab Gripen.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, formed in 2002.
The relevant announcements have been posted on an electronic platform for the sale of state-owned assets. Kazakh air force uses Russian Su-30SM fighters, which can operate day and night, as well as carry out airstrikes against ground targets.
According to Forbes Kazakhstan, the aircraft are offered for sale under the condition of liquidation. A total of 117 aircraft, which were previously in service with military units in the country’s Almaty, Abai, Karaganda, and Shymkent regions, are being auctioned. These aircraft predominantly include MiG-31, MiG-27, MiG-29, and Su-24 models, which were manufactured in the 1970s and 1980s.
The published reports state that these “evaluated assets are no longer fit for use due to moral obsolescence, and it is not economically feasible to modernize them.” The documents make it clear that these “assets must be liquidated by means of disposal at the balance holder’s site.” Furthermore, it is stated that, “Given the technical condition and uniqueness of the evaluated assets, their use for other purposes, including as a source of spare parts, is not feasible.”
In what seems to be a thaw in ties between the two partners, Kazakhstan has curtailed its exports to Russia that are intended for military use in response to Western demands that the Central Asian country and its neighbors adhere to sanctions placed on Moscow due to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
On October 19, Kairat Torebaev, the deputy minister of trade for Kazakhstan, announced that the government had prohibited the sale of 106 commodities “related to the war” to Russia. These items included computer chips, electronics, and drone components made in other countries. “We have completely restricted their export,” he said.
The auction was managed by the Republican State Enterprise “Qazarnauliexport” (“Kazspecexport”) under the Committee for State Defense Orders of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development. The total value of the decommissioned aircraft is approximately 1.9 trillion tenge.
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